


Systkin

by TheHoardingPuffin



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Brothers, Character Study, Gen, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21781849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHoardingPuffin/pseuds/TheHoardingPuffin
Summary: Björn Ironside thinks about his siblings.
Relationships: Bjorn & Gyda, Bjorn & Hvitserk, Bjorn & Ivar, Bjorn & Sigurd, Bjorn & Ubbe, Hvitserk & Ivar, Hvitserk & Ubbe (Vikings)
Kudos: 61





	Systkin

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there it is.   
> So, the thing is, I wrote this when the first trailer for season 6 came out, and it's not very good, but I want to share it anyways. If you read it, please be kind about it. Also, sorry if some things are OOC or don't fit with the canon; like I said, this here isn't exactly great. I just didn't want it to rot away in my notebook.   
> Love, Lotta

Björn, son of Lagertha, son of Ragnar, is many things. People call him many things. Ironside. Bear-killer. Viking. Warrior. Ragnarsson. King.

He wished he’d be called _bróðir_ a little more often. Even his brothers refer to him as _King Björn_ , as _konungr_ and sometimes – most times, really – just as Björn. He misses being just a brother sometimes. He misses being a sibling.

Gyda was his only sister. To this day, he misses her – will never stop missing her. He still sees her in front of his inner eye, her long blonde hair, held back with a leather tie, sometimes braided. Big round blue-grey eyes, full of softness and gentle curiosity. Her pointy chin and rosy cheeks. He sees her stand in the river with their mother, fishing, he sees her feed the goats, he sees her sit at the table with Athelstan, learning.

Poor innocent Gyda. Strong, wonderful Gyda. She would have made a good king’s advisor, had she lived. He cannot help but think about how Gyda would have reacted to their brothers, to the Ragnarsson-war.

There is Ubbe. Ubbe used to be shyer, softer, but he has grown up and lost that softness, but without ever fully hardening. His soul is like a piece of leather, it has aged and is weathered by life and circumstances, but it is still strong and flexible. Ubbe is a skilled fighter and an excellent strategist. He is loyal and Björn trusts him almost beyond fault.

Ubbe has a lot of love to give. His heart loves, but his head is always in it as well, he still does the right thing. He did the right thing with that girl, Margarethe. He did the right thing to marry Torvi. Björn is actually glad about that. They are a good fit, both smart and loving and fierce… Ubbe used to be the reminder of Ragnar’s betrayal on Lagertha, but now he simply is an ally, someone to keep close. And Björn keeps him close.

Hvitserk… Bjorn cannot imagine what happened to him, but Hvitserk is a broken man. A sick man. Björn hates to admit it, but it is true. Ivar broke the passionate, wild boy Björn knew, turned him bitter and angry and damaged him. The Berserker sees his crippled tormenter everywhere and his dreams are filled with the screams of his beloved Thora, which echo in his own screams when he wakes from his nightmares. His mind is constantly caught in a hazy dream that he cannot escape. Every time Björn sees these haunted, bloodshot eyes, hears how his brother screams and pants until Ubbe gets up and calms him down again… Bjorn feels guilty. Guilty that he wasn’t there for the moment when Hvitserk was ready to break, guilty that he didn’t help him, held him together. But he didn’t, he hadn’t – and there they are now. Maybe there is no hope for poor Hvitserk, but Björn won’t abandon him. Broken and battered or not, they are still brothers.

Sigurd is long dead by now, killed by Ivar for opening his mouth wider than the Boneless liked him to. Björn never knew him well, that cursed buy with the snake in his eye. Yes, he saw him fight and drink and celebrate, but he feels like he never learned to read his heart or his soul like he did with Ubbe and Hvitserk. Sigurd remains one more soul lost before its time, another strand of his family lost in the whirlwinds of fate.

And Ivar. Ivar the cripple. Ivar Should-have-Died. Ivar the Boneless. So very different from them all, so much anger and insaneness in one single person’s soul… To Björn, Ivar is the very being of rage and loss of control.

Ivar spills innocent blood, end lives as he sees fit, as if it was all a game, curated for his pleasure. He broke Hvitserk. He murdered Margarethe. He murdered Freydis. Ivar wants things, and he is demanding in the way only a mad beast can be. Ivar does all he does with his whole self and soul. He hates with all his self, he want with all his self, he takes revenge with all his self. He doesn’t love though. Björn doesn’t believe that Ivar is capable of love.

And Ivar is gone for good now – lost without a trace, he disappeared under all their eyes – like a magic truck of Loki. But he’ll return, and then, Björn will be ready. For his other brothers’ sake. For his own sake.

_Bróðir._ Björn misses being called that. But no matter what he is called, this is a part of what he is, who he is. A brother. Kin of their kin.

Oh yes… he’ll be ready when Ivar comes.


End file.
